a sad, sad day at seaworld

I’m sure that by now most of you have heard about the SeaWorld trainer who was drowned by a Killer Whale a few weeks ago. Dawn Brancheau was drowned by the whale after a show at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. She was apparently standing by the 35 foot deep tank at Shamu Stadium. The whale jumped up, grabbed her by the waist and inevitably drowned her. This is so sad for this woman and her family.

I am very against SeaWorld and all other zoos and animal parks that charge people money to keep wild animals in small tanks or cages. These whales are so smart, and swim thousands of kilometers in the wild. They are responding to the frustration of being forced to live in an area equivalent to what a bathtub would be for us. They are bored, depressed, lonely, and never get a chance to do what should come naturally to them…swimming in the ocean, jumping in waves, choosing a mate, and living with their familes.

They listen to the noise of thousands of people visiting them (their steps vibrating through the walls of their tank) and often develop health problems from breathing and drinking their own urine and waste. They can end up with nutritional deficiencies from an insufficient diet and vision problems from the chemicals and chlorine in the tanks.

It’s not the first time that something like this has happened. If SeaWorld continues to keep whales in captivity, it will not be the last. It is about time that SeaWorld, and other places like it, realize the harm that they are causing the animals, as well as the danger that they are putting the trainers in, and stop all of this. If you want to help, you can go to PETA’s website and send the Blackstone Group (the company that owns SeaWorld) a message asking them to release these beautiful animals to sanctuaries that can provide them with a more natural environment

Ideally, one day, no animals would be held captive, but until that happens, we can urge places like SeaWorld to release their animals into sanctuaries where they can receive assistance if necessary. It’s a messed up situation because even after the whales are trained for release into the wild, they are often poor hunters and do not interact well with other whales… hence the reason the whole idea of captivity needs to be put to a stop.